Keep Calm and Find them
by Just-another-lonely-fairytale
Summary: When Cassidy and Austin come into Marino High, they're faced with challenges they never had at their old school. To be more specific: two plot twists that fascinate them.
1. Firsts (and Maybe Something More)

_Warnings: a D/s AU. I recommend you look it up, before reading this fic. It'll explain a lot. _

The alarm woke Cassidy up as it beeped and beeped, effectively annoying her. She rolled over onto her stomach and reached for the digital clock on the nightstand next to her bed. She checked the time, which was 6:30 A.M. and groaned in frustration before pushing the snooze button. _Mom and dad probably did this_, she thought, knowing that her parents only set her alarm for 6:30 on one important occasion. _Might as well wake Austin up for this_, knowing that he would still be asleep.

She yawned and stood, stretching her arms. On her right wrist was an intricate pattern, red swirling designs that formed to create a 'D' on it. D for Dom. Making her way to her brother's room, she tip-toed on the floorboards and cursed when they squeaked. The door was almost always open, so she stepped through the doorway and tried to avoid several piles of clothing thrown everywhere. She tripped on a pair of shoes lying near his bed with a small _thud_. Her brother was still asleep, curled into the fetal position with the blanket tangled in his legs.

He was mumbling things. The only word she could hear was "Kneel," before he shifted positions.

_Probably still in his dream_, and she felt sympathy for her 'younger-by-ten-minutes' brother. A Dom who just got his mark a few weeks ago would have trouble controlling those dreams. They were vivid and life-like, so it was difficult to distinguish dream from real life whenever he or she woke up.

When Cassidy first got one, she spent a few minutes pinching her arms because it was so, so _real_. Everything felt real and looked real and it was all very confusing.

"Austin," she called out, "Austin!" but he didn't even move. "Austin, wake up!" there was still nothing. So she reached forward, grabbed the blanket around his legs, and pulled it off. That woke him up, as he made a sound in the back of his throat and turned over. He was on his back now, propped up by a pillow underneath his head.

"What do you want?" he asked, irritated that he was interrupted. He glared at his sister, who was busy laughing at the sight. Messy blonde hair, a stuffed teddy bear in his hands, shirtless and only wearing a sheet for protection. "Cassidy, what do you want?"

She stopped laughing and tried to regain her breathe. "Sorry," she said in-between giggles, "Oh, yeah. Uh… you didn't hear your alarm clock go off?"

"No, was I supposed to?"

"Yeah, mom and dad set mine to 6:30."

He groaned, placing his hands on his face and dragging them down. He swore, going to his closet and picking clothes out. "6:30 means school…" he whined. While looking for a shirt, he asked if Cassidy wanted to use the shower first.

She responded with a 'Yeah' and went out of the room.

The door across from his room slammed shut for a few seconds, before it was yanked open and slammed shut again. There was a bathroom downstairs, so he listened to his sister's footsteps descending them. _This is gonna take long_, he thought, knowing that she took really long showers.

He sat on his bed, the clothes in his lap. As a way of passing the time, he ran his fingers over the mark on his right wrist. Dominant. _He_ was a Dom, it still sounded weird. Austin Moon = Dom. Someone who held all the cards in the relationship and gave out orders. Everyone in his family expected him to turn out to be a sub.

But when Cassidy presented as a Dom, there was no doubt that Austin was going to be the same classification. Twins tended to be the same classification, after all. It wasn't surprising that he got his mark on his right wrist.

What was surprising, however, was when their older brother –Jeff- presented as a sub. The science with Dominant/Switch relationships yielded a 50% percent chance of the child becoming a Dom and 50% chance of the child becoming a Switch. So Jeff was the only submissive in the house. Austin remembered the time he stumbled into his brother's room, seeing him hold his left wrist in his other hand. The swirls and designs forming to create an 's'.

(_"Get out, Austin!" he yelled, throwing anything within his reach at the boy. "Get out!" but he didn't budge. _

_Austin was eleven at that time and asked if being a sub meant something. _

_"It does, 'get him on his knees' they say, 'a sub can't be in a show choir' they say," and Jeff laughed, it was bitter._ _"'Send him to the sub classes!'"_)

He remembered his dad's reaction. Just denying it and saying that he would dominate someone soon, because the science _could not_ be wrong.

His son couldn't be a sub.

Austin was pulled out of his thoughts by someone knocking on his door. He looked at the open doorway and saw Jeff standing there, the silver bracelet around his wrist glinted in the light. _Claim marker_, his mind provided. _But only permanent claims have a silver bracelet_. "You're claimed?"

Jeff glanced at his own wrist with an amused smirk, "Yeah, by Nick." His best friend since forever. "Why don't you have a sub yet?"

Ah, there it was. He knew this was coming, the inevitable 'are-you-claiming-a-sub' discussion that loomed after he was marked. "I have all the time in the world!" he proclaimed with a grin. "It's not required for me to claim one at this age."

"Okay, if that's your decision. Oh, by the way, dad's calling you downstairs. Breakfast's ready."

"I'm waiting until Cassidy gets out of the shower," he said and motioned to the clothes in his lap.

He heard the shower stop running, and listened as the door slammed shut and feet go up the stairs. She passed him and said that he could use the shower now and tell mom and dad she was going out.

"What for?" he questioned, standing up and going toward the stairs. He was holding the clothes in his hands and slowly inching down the stairs, waiting for an answer. He didn't get one, so he walked to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

Emerging from the shower, he was running a hand through his blonde hair. He went to the kitchen and saw his mom and dad standing there. On the table, there was so much food: eggs, omelets, stacks and stacks of pancakes, plus various plates of toast and jars of peanut butter and/or jelly.

He took his usual seat next to Cassidy and across from his dad. Jeff was sitting where she usually sat and said that he hoped she didn't mind. She probably wouldn't. Austin reached for a plate filled with pancakes and poured syrup on it, eating it. "Cassidy's going out," he said randomly, seeing his dad pause with eating his eggs.

"Where?" he questioned. And that was when Cassidy came down, placing a kiss on her dad's cheek.

"I'm going to Sonic Boom," she says, "I have to get a new string for my guitar. I heard there's a ton in the back room there," going to the door that led outside and opening it. "Bye, love you all, I'll just be gone for a couple minutes!" before it slammed shut.

His mom broke the awkward silence that followed by telling Austin to keep an eye on her when they go to Marino High. The new school they were going to was called Marino High, home of the Manatees.

Austin picked at his pancakes at that point, not even paying attention as she talked about the school. He was too busy thinking about what would happen once he went into that place.

He was new, shoved into Marino High in second semester due to his father getting a promotion. Everyone else already knew each other, so what would they say if they saw a new kid walking the halls?

Sighing, he tried to eat more before it was time to go.

* * *

Cassidy was walking to the Miami Mall, which was, thankfully, a few blocks away from their house. As she crossed several streets and neared the building, she couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of claiming a sub. Sixteen was the legal age to be in a temporary claim, after all. So she weighed the pros and cons in her head, noted that the cons outweighed the pros.

A sub would be a huge responsibility, even if she was in a temporary claim. Someone to take care of and someone to care for. Maybe even someone she would fall in love with… and claim him or her permanently.

The cons, however, were drastic changes to her life. She wasn't sure if she could handle everything changing. Since she was of legal age to (temporarily) claim a sub, she would be required –by law- to move into a place of her own.

She got to the mall at 7:15, and school was at 8:30. Not bad of a time difference. She went to Sonic Boom –the only one open at that time- and strolled into the store. When she went in, she saw a boy behind the counter. He was wiping it down and she cleared her throat to get his attention.

He looked up and smiled at her, showing white teeth. "Do you need anything, miss?" he questioned, putting the cloth down.

_Miss_.

"I- I just need a guitar string. High E if you have it," she said, cursing when she stuttered.

"Just wait here," and he left the counter to get it. He came back a few minutes later, holding a small package of strings in his hand. He gave it to her and said it cost $4.80. She gave him a 5 dollar bill and told him to keep the change. He just nodded, telling her to have a nice day as she left the shop.

As she was walking, she thought of it again. _Miss_, and she couldn't stop smiling.

When she got home, Austin was sitting down at the table. His fingers picking at the guitar in his lap, his tongue stuck out in concentration. He looked up at her and gave her a smile, mouthing "It's already 7:30." Two backpacks were next to him, in the seat that was empty. A leather cuff was around his wrist, and she gave him a look that said 'what is going on and why are you wearing that?'

"It's a required thing. If you're marked," he told her "then you _have _to wear the cuff wherever you go."

She scoffed, immediately hating that rule. Her cuff was in a drawer in her room, among old bottles of nail polish and tubes of lip gloss. She hadn't touched it since her sixteenth birthday a few weeks ago. Her parents gave it to her, saying that she was going to make a fantastic Dominant for her own submissive. She hid it and never took it out.

Until now.

She went to her room and retrieved it, wiping off stains from open bottles and such. When she fastened it around her wrist, it felt tight against her skin. It just felt weird, having something that showed her classification off; a huge sign in big, bold letters that said 'DOMINANT'.

As she came down the stairs, she thought of the boy again. Was he a Dominant or a submissive? A Switch? Why did it matter to her? She giggled at the thought of him as a Dominant. He wouldn't be a Dominant, she couldn't think of the boy and Dominant in the same sentence.

Austin grabbed the two backpacks and handed one to his sister. They gave their parents the typical parental hugs and kisses, before Cassidy took Austin's hand into hers and dragged him out of the house. They started walking and Cassidy was constantly checking the time on her phone.

"I think I'm in love," she said randomly.

The look on his face was a confused expression. "What?"

"I said 'I think I'm in love'," she repeated.

"Again, what?" and she rolled her eyes, Austin was either confused or… yeah, he was just confused.

"I'll tell you at school."

They stopped walking when they reached the front of the school, simultaneously smirking. It was a huge school from the outside and students were walking up the stairs to go through the double doors. The doors that led to the inside.

He gave her a small smile, linking his arm through hers.

"Shall we?"

And she smiled back, "We shall."


	2. Encounters

_Another mind. Another soul. Another body to grow old. It's not complicated. _

A simple line of lyrics Ally had scribbled into her songbook. It was from an Ed Sheeran song that she liked to listen to. She ripped the page out of her songbook and pinned it to the cork board above her bed. It was a place where she put lyrics that she loved and inspired her.

Sometimes the lyrics inspired her to write her own and there were lines and lines of them in her songbook. Her treasured book that she let _absolutely no one_ touch. They would face a very angry Ally if they did.

She opened it and wrote something down: _You don't see me. _It was a satisfying lyric and she planned on expanding it and putting it to some music later. But now, she had to do something. She went out of her room and to the one next to hers, she turned the knob and found it locked. Again, she turned and turned and turned, because she knew that her brother was awake at this time.

Sighing, she knocked on the wood four times. And she heard the sound of the door unlocking and it opened with a small _squeak_. Dallas was standing there. He was still in his pajamas, a bow-tie wrapped around his neck. There were dark circles underneath his eyes, and she noticed that they were rimmed red. _Must've slept in his contacts_, she thought.

"What do you want, Ally?" he asked, "I'm busy," which meant he had spent the last hour watching either _Doctor Who _or some sort of anime.

"You know you have to man the counter," and she added, "We have to go to school too."

He groaned and stepped out of his room, starting for the stairs that led to the store downstairs. "Wait!" she called out, seeing him stop on the first step, "Aren't you gonna change?"

He looked down at his attire and laughed, asking her to throw some clothes his way. She did and he went back to his room, and shut the door behind him so he could change. And he came out wearing the clothes she threw at him, plus his glasses. She giggled and he went down the stairs and she went back to her room.

Dallas was at the counter, wiping it down and enjoying the silence around him. He hummed a song that he remembered singing. Since it was early in the morning, Sonic Boom didn't have a lot of customers. A few people were walking around and browsing the instruments. Some were sitting on the seats near the entrance and just talking.

He looked up to see a girl walk in. She simply strolled in like she had no care in the world, and he had a sudden urge to fall to his knees. He wanted to fall to his knees and be the most perfect submissive and- his train of thought stopped there. No more, just a complete stop. The girl's biology made him vulnerable to this, because she was a Dominant and he was a submissive.

She approached him with the confidence he assumed all Dominants had. And he couldn't resist adding _miss _in as a sign of respect. He laughed nervously at her surprised look and wanted to say "I say that to everyone," but it was like his mind didn't want to cooperate. So he settled for a 'have a nice day' as she left with her packet of strings.

**. . .**

Ally sat at the piano in the practice room, fingers hovering over the keys. Her songbook was on the stand, the lyric still written there. She groaned, because she couldn't think right now. She spent several minutes sitting there with the lid open as she waited for inspiration to suddenly hit her.

Nothing came, though. Sighing, she placed her elbows on the keys and leaned on her hands. They made a discordant sound. She grabbed her book and the pencil tucked in between a page or two and wrote a few more lyrics while in her 'composer's block'. When she finished, she looked them over and realized the song would sound kind of disjointed if she sung those lyrics.

She made a mental note to revise until they were to her standards.

A clock was above her piano and a watch on her wrist, so she checked the time and realized they had ten minutes before the bell would ring.

Then she did a double take, looking at the clock and her watch to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. She swore and ran out of the room, successfully grabbing her backpack in the rush. She walked quickly, calling Dallas's name as she went to the counter. He was busy helping a customer that he didn't seem to notice, so she yelled and he turned around.

"What?" he asked, the tone in his voice irritated.

"We have 10 minutes before school starts!" she said, panic in her voice. She took his hand and dragged him out of his spot in the counter. He protested by breaking free of her –surprisingly strong- grip and heading upstairs to get his stuff. He came down and they ran out of the store, saying quick goodbyes to their dad (who was upstairs).

As they reached school, they bumped into a pair of people walking up the stairs. Dallas murmured apologies to them and tried to get to his first class with enough time to not be considered late.

He and his sister weren't in the same first period classes. He was in English and she was in Music Theory, which was somewhat fitting. So when they were inside, she went left and he went straight across the hall to room 221.

Thankfully, they managed to avoid the morning rush that came with being late.

**. . .**

He snagged a seat near the front. He sat down and took a book out and started reading. The teacher was the only person in the room with him as others were walking around the halls and socializing with their friends.

The teacher told him to put the book away and he didn't, the story was just getting interesting and something huge was going to happen. But Mr. Smith just simply told him to put it away or he will take it. So he placed it into his backpack, sad that he forgot to bring a bookmark. He looked around, trying to find new faces in the crowd. So far, there was no one.

He glanced at the back, noticing that someone unfamiliar was sitting all the way in the back. Oh, that girl he met in Sonic Boom, the one who was so dominant that it had an immediate effect on him. He waved and she waved back. He smiled at her and she did the same, mouthing a 'hello'

'Hi' he responded, before turning back into his seat.

**. . .**

When Ally walked into her Music Theory class, she was somewhat surprised at the little amount of fellow submissives. Only her, a boy named Miles, and someone whose name she could not remember. The rest were Dominants who took the middle of the room, legs stretching over the seats as if they owned the place.

She sat a desk near Miles and a blond Dominant, took out her songbook, and started writing nonsense lyrics in it. As a way of occupying her mind while the teacher got the lesson ready. Once finished, the teacher clapped her hands once as a signal for everyone to pay attention.

"Okay," she said with a small grin, "For first semester, we are going to start on group projects. Two to a group, please. And since we have an odd number of Dominants and submissive, Dominants may partner with others of the same classification. The subject will be revealed at the end of class, but right now, start on finding a partner."

And the class was like a frenzy after those words escaped her lips. Dominants paired with Dominants and Miles was alone, looking somewhat sad. She leaned forward to talk to him, but someone tapped her shoulder and she turned to see who it was.

The blond Dominant that was sitting next to her. He was smiling at her and asked if she wanted to be his partner. There must've been disbelief on her face as he laughed and tried to explain why. He was a new student and she seemed nice enough. So he thought 'what the hell' and went up to her and that was how, yeah…

"I was going to partner with Miles," she said, motioning to the boy in question. She glanced at him and saw that he had a partner, the other submissive.

She nodded as an answer and he stuck his hand forward to introduce himself. "I'm Austin Moon," he said.

"Ally Dawson," she replied, taking his hand.

"Well, Ally Dawson, I think we're going to be a great pair."

The teacher clapped her hands once more, silencing the noisy classroom. "I expect you all chose your partner. We will start on the project tomorrow and –let me tell you this now- this project isn't something you could throw together at the last minute. This takes dedication and an understanding of music. I will teach you those skills in order for you to make something halfway decent."

She turned to the board in front in her and wrote something on it. When she stopped, it read: _What is music? _

Everyone shouted out different answers, things about how music was their only escape, something to listen to when shit hit the fan, other responses that faded among the commotion.

"All of your answers are correct, but music is more than something you _just _listen to, it's something that can influence you. It can grab your emotions and twist them into a big jumble of things, think of music as play dough," she paused for a moment, thinking of what to say next. "No, not play dough. Think of it as a book, only that's somewhat of a bad metaphor… You can draw your own conclusions and try to figure out what the artist is trying to say."

And Ally wanted to say something like "And we can be influenced by books and music, that's why some books come with playlists so we could feel the emotion of a certain scene." She must've said it out loud because the teacher –Mrs. Lawson- was looking at her with a smirk.

"Now that we all have a small understanding on what music can do, I want you all to copy the scale on the board. I'll explain it once everyone is finished."

**. . .**

Dallas sat in his English class, frustrated because he couldn't figure out what to write. His teacher had given them an assignment relating to the growing number of submissives that refuse to be dominated. It was an interesting topic, but he couldn't even get his words out on paper. At times, it would be easy and he would crank out 500 words in no time. But now, it was like his brain refused to do anything.

He huffed and started tapping his pencil on the desk as a way of trying to think. The students around him were turning their papers in and the assignment was due at the end of the class! His paper still had nothing on it, except a title.

_Reluctance to be dominated, by Dallas Dawson. _

He put his pencil to paper and started writing anything. Soon, it became something that didn't even connect to the subject. But he decided 'fuck it' and turned it in to Mr. Smith, who just merely scanned the paper and gave him a small nod.

The lesson was about social and political discrimination against submissives. The social discrimination came from a certain church in a certain place who had stereotypical Dominant views: the submissive stays at the house, obeys all Dominants, blah, blah, blah. Mr. Smith didn't share their views and berated them as he gave the lesson. Political discrimination was from a law that recently passed, a law that said that submissives couldn't enter the police force anymore.

Stations around the United States would check the classifications of all of their officers.

It disgusted Mr. Smith, who ranted and ranted on and on about the subject.

When class ended with the bell ringing, the girl approached Dallas. She gave him a smile and stuck her hand out to be shaken, "I'm Cassidy," she introduced.

He took it, "I'm Dallas."


	3. Meetings between all of them

At lunch, Cassidy and Austin found each other and tried to make their way to the cafeteria. In the vastness of the school, they ended up in the wrong wing and in another building twice. They asked several teachers and fellow students until they finally found it.

It was just like their old school: tables laid in a pattern that was just everywhere, the stereotypical cliques, and the food. The food was something that didn't seem to be edible, a sandwich with a type of meat in the middle that looked like –and smelled like- dog food. Austin's nose crinkled at that smell and gagged.

Cassidy sent him a look that said 'just don't look at it' as they found a table in the middle and sat in the seats. They were alone, they were the other's company while they people-watched. She pointed out the obvious popular kids, the ones who walked around with a certain air. As if they ruled the school and everyone who wasn't them was beneath their acknowledgment.

Besides the cliques, they noticed that the Dominants hung out with the Dominants, submissives with the submissives. And two people that sat in the corner of the room, one reading and the other writing something down.

"Austin," she said, "Y'know how I said that I was in love?" she pointed to the boy, "He's the person I fell for."

The blond glanced at the boy, before looking back at Cassidy with an amused expression on his face. "That's the guy you fell for?" and he grinned. "Well, I'm not going to say that you have weird standards but…" and she already knew what that statement meant. He studied the other further, taking note of the lack of a cuff on his wrist. "But he's a Switch, and you know what the government says about Dom/Switch claims-,"

She interrupted him by saying that he wasn't a Switch and was a submissive. Maybe he just forgot his cuff or something, that's why he didn't have it. But the idea of him being a Switch was kind of weird. It wouldn't make any sense since the _miss _escaped his lips so easily.

"Switches can be submissive to Dominants. If you claim him, then he's going to have to dominate someone. Those claims can't last without a third party. He won't have a role, he'll either be your sub or someone else's Dom."

Polyamorous relationships were common in Dom/Switch or Switch/sub claims. Submissives couldn't dominate and Doms couldn't submit. It was biology and no one could change that.

Austin had a point, she couldn't bear the idea of a polyamorous claim. If Dallas was a Switch, then she'd have to find either someone else or try to wrap her head around the idea of a polyamorous relationship.

She went back to picking at her food, poking at it with her plastic fork. God, it looked disgusting.

**. . .**

Ally and Dallas were at their usual table, doing their usual lunchtime things that didn't involve eating the food. He read a book, while she jotted down a melody that was stuck in her head.

The lyrics on the page were being edited, as she made several exes over the words she didn't like. When she was finished, it was covered in red marks. _I can't write, _she thought, looking over the melody she wrote down. It was a ballad that was somewhat out of her comfort zone. A love song about a boy and girl torn apart by tragic circumstances, but they find each other again. She liked love, no, she _loved _love.

That was why she watched romance movies and read love stories. Why she believed in love-at-first-sight, why _Romeo & Juliet _was her all-time favorite play, why she cried at the end of _The Faults in Our Stars_, it was all because she was in love with love.

It was the most powerful emotion in the universe, to her at least.

Dallas was always annoyed with her being in love with love. When she was watching a romantic movie, he yelled for her to shut up if her 'aww's were too loud. Then she countered by saying that she never disturbed him when _Doctor Who _was on –and his screams or sobs were loud-, so don't disturb her when [insert romantic lead here] was going to confess his or her feelings/break up with/etc. with [insert other romantic lead here].

He would stay quiet and she would grin in triumph.

Now, she was finished with her melody and needed to work on the music project. The project was something simple: create a song with an instrument and lyrics. The words may or may not rhyme, that was up to the composer. Any foul language, if any, will be an automatic fail.

But she needed Austin for it. He was her partner and he –obviously- had an opinion on his share of the work. So she went over to their table in the middle of the cafeteria, which left Dallas alone. She noticed this and motioned for her brother to go with her. He looked wary, but stood up and went to her anyway. He sat next to her, snuck his hand underneath the table and reached for his sister's hand and squeezed hers in a sign of worry.

She sent him a small smile and squeezed back. She would be okay without him, so he didn't need to worry. "Go," she mouthed, "Go to your friends," and she saw how his eyes flitted to Austin and gave her a look that said 'not leaving'.

Austin was across from her and she opened the songbook to an empty page. A pencil by her side was pointed to him. "So, Ally," he said, "Let's get started on this project."

"Do you think we'll need the music room? I have a few ideas, but I need your input," and she flipped to the page with lyrics and a few lines of notes written on it. He reached for it and brought it to him, reading the words and humming the notes. There was this small smile on his face.

He liked it.

**. . .**

Dallas was by his sister's side, watching her and Austin interact with each other. They were friendly and nice, so he didn't need to worry about the blond. Even if he was a Dominant. Cassidy was across from him, and he decided to engage in a bit of conversation with her while their siblings talked.

He moved from Ally's side and went to sit next to Cassidy. In the empty space, Austin grabbed the opportunity to take it and be closer to Ally. They were huddled together, reading the songbook and jotting other ideas down.

Now, he and Cassidy were sitting next to each other. Ever since their encounter in English, they never bothered to talk to each other. Even if they had a few classes together. Out of 7 periods, they shared 3.

English, Science, and D/s 101. Not exactly in that order.

He watched as Austin and Ally stood up to go the music room across the hall from the cafeteria. (Students were allowed to roam the halls during lunch, as long as the students were the same classification. Doms and subs together usually meant… ugh, he'd rather not think about it).

Since they were alone, Dallas decided to strike up a conversation. "So…," he said, "Are you and Austin siblings? I kind of figured, since and you and he have the same last name and all. Then again, cousins have the same last names, but siblings make more sense."

Cassidy looked up from poking her food, noticing Austin wasn't there. "Where did Austin go?" she asked. He gestured to outside of the cafeteria, and she 'ohh'ed in realization. He must've went to the music room to work on something, probably with that Ally person. He was talking about her earlier, something about her and him doing a music project. "Yeah, we're siblings. Twins, if I had to be honest."

"Are you guys close?"

She nodded, and the conversation went dry after that, it was getting awkward really fast and she needed something to break the ice. And her eyes strayed to his wrist, a mark was on the left one. Meaning he was a submissive, and she reminded herself to tell Austin about this. Dallas was a sub, not a Switch. But why didn't the guy have a cuff? "Why don't have a, y'know…," and she motioned to the boy's wrist.

"Oh, a cuff?" and he looked down and muttered something. "I guess I might've forgotten it at home or something. We were late, so we had leave in a hurry."

"So that means you're not a Switch?" and he nodded, looking kind of confused by her reaction. Switches had a mark on their lower back, and his wrist clearly had one.

"Why would you think I'm one?" he questioned.

"Lack of a cuff, for one thing."

He could see her point, but still, she could've just looked at his mark. "Point taken."

"Do you like it here? At the school, I mean."

He was silent for a few seconds as he twisted the cuff, before he nodded. "Most of the time," he said, "Other times, the work can be hard and I'll be really frustrated. But… it's okay."

Cassidy had a weird feeling that Dallas wasn't telling her something, but she pushed it down.

**. . .**

Austin was sitting down at the piano, testing out a few chords. Ally was in a chair next to him, her songbook in her lap as she wrote down a bit more of the melody. He hummed softly, testing out the lyrics furiously scribbled in the margin. "You don't see me…," and he thought those were strong lyrics, but the way she wrote it was in a minor key. It was too sad for his liking, so he wanted to try adjusting the key and speeding up the tempo to make it happier.

Everything was silent between them, only broken by the _scritch-scratch _of her pencil and his fingers pressing down on the keys.

He glanced at her and saw that she was writing more to the song. Adding in a chorus and a few more verses. "I'm finished!" she declared happily, placing the book on the stand and watching him read it and mumble the tune. When he was finished, she asked "What d'ya think?"

"It's a good song," he begun, "But you wrote in a minor key, which makes it sound really sad," and played the melody the way she wrote it. "It should be in a major key, it'll sound happy," then he did it his way.

"But if it's written in a major key and the lyrics are like that, it wouldn't make any sense. Sad lyrics and a happy beat," she pointed out.

"Maybe Mrs. Lawson would give us extra credit for 'stepping outside of our comfort zone and writing some very unconventional' and we'll be the most awesome students there."

She laughed at his attempt of imitating Mrs. Lawson –speaking at a fast pace and with a dramatic tone- and he grinned at her.

_This will be an extremely fun project_, he thought.

**Author's Notes: **_This is my apology chapter for the hiatus I have put my readers through. Blame real life getting in the way and other things. _


End file.
